English: Fill in the Blanks – Set 48

Directions: Pick out the most appropriate pair of words to complete the given sentences.

1. __of sorts, Lord Robert Clive would __a gun in one hand, and a sword in the other.
   A) certainty, blaze
   B) conjectural, flash
   C) empirical, spark
   D) strength, flicker
   E) None of these
   
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      Option B
   Explanation: conjectural = speculative; flash = shine in a bright but brief, sudden, or intermittent way.
   
2. Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay walked into India, as if __ into a__.
   A) measuring, limber
   B) regulating, ambulance
   C) pacing, palanquin
   D) trotting, barrow
   E) None of these
   
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      Option C
   Explanation: palanquin = a covered litter for one passenger,
   
3. I fully believe that a __ penal code is better than a severe penal code, the worst of all systems was surely that of having a __ code for the Brahmins
   A) strong, strong
   B) mild, mild
   C) moderate, moderate
   D) sarcastic, sarcastic
   E) None of these
   
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      Option B
   Explanation: mild  = not severe, serious, or harsh.
   
4. On the US side, movement — even __— on a totalisation agreement would be a welcome __ for temporary Indian workers and Indian companies from paying an annual social security payment.
   A) abrupt, distress
   B) incremental, relief
   C) decrescent, anguish
   D) acute, pang
   E) None of these
   
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      Option B
   Explanation: incremental = relating to or denoting an increase or addition, especially one of a series on a fixed scale; relief = a feeling of reassurance and relaxation following release from anxiety or distress.
   
5. When PM Modi announced his __ for “Startup India” in early 2016, the buzz __ throughout Silicon Valley.
   A) vision, dull
   B) vision, reverberated
   C) vision, quiet
   D) vision, reflected
   E)  None of these
   
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      Option B
   Explanation: reverberated =
   
6. A recent report predicts __ shifts in the global economic __ by 2050 — six of the seven largest economies will be emerging economies led by China and India.
   A) exciting, ruckus
   B) modest, group
   C) monotonous, organize
   D) dramatic, order
   E) None of these
   
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      Option D 
7. In an extremely warm speech, Tillerson highlighted a number of points of __ between the two erstwhile “__ democracies”.
   A) difference, allied
   B) isolation, conciliated
   C) convergence, estranged
   D) dissent, chummy
   E) None of these
   
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      Option C
   Explanation: convergence = the process or state of converging.;
   
8. While designating India and the US as “the two __ of stability”, Tillerson was quite __ on the implications of China’s rise.
   A) bookmarks, delusive
   B) bookends, forthright
   C) bounds, insincere
   D) sets, subtle
   E) None of these
   
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      Option B
   Explanation: bookends  = be positioned at the end or on either side of (something); forthright = (of a person or their manner or speech) direct and outspoken.
   
9.  After __ Pakistan for harbouring terrorists in his August speech, Trump recently praised Pakistan for the help it provided in securing the release of an American woman and her family from the Haqqani network’s__.
   A) excusing, acquittal
   B) scolding, sovereignty
   C) castigating, captivity
   D) exonerating, license
   E) None of these
   
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      Option C
   Explanation: castigating  = reprimand (someone) severely; captivity = the condition of being imprisoned or confined.
   
10. The __ aspect of US policy on South Asia has involved maintaining a balance between India and Pakistan and this has been so even in a period of __ bilateral progress over the last two decades.
    A) unstated, significant
    B) untold, weighty
    C) unspoken, notable
    D) tacit, critical
    E) None of these
    
    View Answer

       Option A